1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure generally relates to devices and methods for temperature determination and, in particular, to devices and methods for calculating a sub-skull temperature.
2. Description of Related Art
Internal body temperature is widely used by physicians and other healthcare professionals as an indicator of a person's health. In most healthcare facilities, various non-invasive techniques may be utilized to measure internal temperature before, during, and/or after treatment. Such techniques typically include the use of oral, rectal, tympanic, or axial thermometers. These instruments are useful in providing a substantially instantaneous temperature reading, but are not generally used to provide continuous, relatively long-term monitoring of a patient's temperature. However, it is this continuous temperature measurement, or the determination of relatively sudden changes in patient temperature that is most useful to healthcare professionals when providing treatment. Such devices are not well-suited for continuous temperature measurement since, for example, disposing a thermometer in the mouth of a patient for long periods of time can cause discomfort and can be otherwise cumbersome. Moreover, often the condition of the patient may make it difficult or impossible to access, for example, the mouth, rectum, and/or other areas of the body where temperature is typically measured with such devices.
To overcome some of these problems, devices have been developed enabling continuous monitoring of patient temperature. Such devices are typically in the form of an adhesive patch or bandage-like structure having an array of temperature sensors. Such devices are typically adhered to the patient's skin overlaying a portion of the temporal artery. These devices, however, are characterized by deficiencies making them undesirable for use in many patient treatment settings. For example, such devices must be placed in close proximity to the temporal artery in order to obtain an accurate temperature measurement. However, since the temporal artery is beneath the skin, and is not easily visible, such devices are often mispositioned on the patient. Such mispositioning can have adverse affects on the accuracy of the temperature measurement obtained using such devices. In addition, the temperature at the skin surface can be significantly influenced by the ambient temperature and often does not correlate well with core body temperature. Moreover, reducing the number of sensors employed in the sensor arrays of such devices reduces the accuracy of the body temperature estimation while increasing the number of sensors increases the cost of such devices.
The exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure overcome one or more of the deficiencies described above.